23/04/2026
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Service Number 3240
(๐ถ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ข๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ ๐ก๐๐๐๐๐ฆโ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ก... ๐ค๐ ๐๐๐ค ๐ก๐ข๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ก ๐โ๐๐๐ก๐๐ ๐๐ ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐ก๐กโ๐ ๐ ๐ก๐๐๐ฆ, ๐ก๐๐๐๐๐๐ โ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐ก ๐ โ๐๐๐๐ โ๐๐ ๐ก๐๐๐ ๐๐ก ๐ค๐๐)
Both Garrettโs parents had passed away when World War One began โ James in 1903 and Catherine in 1912. They are both buried at the Carngham Cemetery. There are no surviving cemetery records for this period, and sadly James and Catherine do not have a headstone. They are almost certainly buried in the Presbyterian Section.
Garrett was aged 29 when he travelled to Melbourne to enlist on the 27th of July 1915. At the time he was single and living in Snake Valley where he worked as a farm labourer. The AIF recruitment medical examination described Garrett as a tall, slender man of slight build, with a fair complexion, blue eyes, and brown hair.
Garrett listed his next of kin as Walter Nunn (1886โ1952) a close friend from Snake Valley. With his parents deceased, and his immediate family likely living away from the district with families of their own, this choice is understandable. Walter, who was born the same year as Garrett, would have grown up alongside himโattending school together and living nearby. At the time Garrett enlisted, Walter was working as a wood carter and farmer in Snake Valley, raising a young family of his own.
Garrettโs war records make it difficult to trace his exact movements; however, he spent most of his service in England and on the Western Front in France. Unfortunately, there are large blocks of time unaccounted for within his records.
Gaps in a soldierโs Statement of Service are very common, as these documents were designed to record key administrative events rather than day-to-day activity. Routine serviceโsuch as time spent training, in the trenches, or moving between locationsโwas rarely documented unless it involved a change in status, such as illness, transfer, or disciplinary action.
Personal war diaries are so precious in this regard and understandably, many soldiers did not use them.
Even though Garrettโs service record lacks detail, the movements of the 58th Battalion AIF are very well documented, and we can reasonably place him within those events.
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Garrett was initially recruited to the 6th Infantry Brigade, 21st Infantry Battalion, 7th reinforcements, from July 1915 till the end of October 1915. It is not mentioned if his training was undertaken at the Broadmeadows or Seymour military training camp.
He embarked for overseas service on the 18th of November 1915 โ a trip that usually took vessels around 8 weeks. Garrett travelled to Egypt to be trained for conditions for the war in Europe.
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Garrett was taken on strength to the 58th Battalion on the 15th of March 1916. The 58th was predominantly composed of men from Victoria. The battalion became part of the 15th Brigade of the 5th Australian Division.
After joining the battalion in early 1916 he then travelled to France with the 58th Battalion, where he would have entered the harsh routine of trench warfareโenduring mud, cold, and constant shellfire. This was a period of adjustment for soldiers โ long hours in muddy trenches and learning to survive under artillery fire.
There is nothing to suggest that Garrett was anything other than an upstanding member of the AIF, aside from a minor disciplinary incident recorded on the 21st of June 1916. While being transported aboard the HMT Transylvania, he disobeyed orders by smoking in a prohibited area, for which he was punished with the forfeiture of four daysโ pay by the Commanding Officer of the 58th Battalion. Although Garrett was not involved, it is interesting to note that later in the war, the HMT Transylvania, a vessel used as a troopship for transporting soldiers, was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat on the 4th of May 1917, off the coast of Italy, resulting in significant loss of life.
Through the latter half of 1916 the 58th Battalion was engaged in heavy fighting and front line rotations in the Somme region, with conditions that likely contributed to his hospitalisation.
On the 22nd of November 1916 Garrett was admitted sick to hospital on the field in France. He was diagnosed with bronchitis and travelled back to the UK via the Hospital Ship Asturias - a British Royal Mail Steam Packet Company ocean liner that had been requisitioned as a hospital ship at the outbreak of WWI.
Garrett received treatment and convalesced at the Beaufort War Hospital.
During WWI, bronchitis was treated with supportive care rather than cures. Antibiotics had not yet been invented. Patients were typically prescribed strict bed rest, warmth, and good nursing care, along with nourishing fluids such as broths and tea. Treatment focused on relieving symptoms, using expectorant mixtures to loosen phlegm, cough suppressants (sometimes containing opiates), steam inhalation, and traditional remedies like mustard or linseed poultices applied to the chest. Fresh air was considered beneficial, and in more serious cases, basic oxygen therapy might be used. Recovery from bronchitis could be slow, especially after active service, and may have taken weeks or longer depending on the severity of the illness.
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Garrettโs service record is quiet after this period. As a member of the 58th Battalion, Garrett likely spent the period from late 1916 to October 1917 rotating through the typical cycle of front-line, support, and reserve duties on the Western Front. Following the battalionโs service in the Somme sector during the harsh winter of 1916, he may have been involved in the fighting around the Hindenburg Line, including the Battle of Bullecourt in May 1917, before moving into Belgium, where Australians fought in extremely difficult, muddy conditions. In between these major actions, his time would have been taken up with trench duty, working parties, training, and periods of rest behind the lines.
Garrettโs records comment that he proceeded to France on the 9th of October 1917 โ Taken on Strength by the 58th Battalion AIF.
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